I was always with George in my temple.

It was miserable but well arranged and, given the circumstances, the work done by poor Montaron was exceptional.

"Montaron, come and see, my castle still exists. Stay close to me because here your worst nightmares could come true.

We went down into my shadow together and he could see my Octahedron reigning over a labyrinth, an infinite world.

He could also see the countless rooms below, each one opening a window to this world and also to other worlds.

"You see, this is the main bridge. But don't trust your senses, the distances are phenomenal. The octahedron here has no size limit. It will always touch the sky.

In fact it pivots on other dimensions.

Behind it is the past, in front, the future and to the left and right, other parallel dimensions.

It is these dimensions that are dangerous, some of them lead to other octahedrons ruled by hydras. Some are friendly, but most are vicious and want to kill each other.

Sometimes they cross this dimension to go into other dimensions, but they always have to take cover, to hide.

It is true that I have nothing to fear but I am always following my fear.

"Tiamats kill each other to be stronger and at the moment, I'm housing a Tiamat here, well what's left of it, and sometimes I get a visit from another, a very young one, nice to us, but don't have any illusions, she's the incarnation of chaos, and she knows how to punish the insolent. On the other hand, children are everything to her. We try to contact her from a serious danger, but she is in a reality, this way, I think... but before the cataclysm. I don't dare to go in this area, the borders being blurred. We have to help her but the priority is my children...my descendants..."

Montaron: "I understand, My Lord..."

"My only lead is a Dantinne and her father Ignar, a family of 3 red dragons and a sea dragon...".

There would be a succubus or a succubus dragon... weird... and the dragon would be a flesh-eater. Yet she came in contact with Tiamat, "the nice one" at the Dharma bunker.

I know that Tania is on her heels. These are the only leads that I have..."

Montaron "Monsignor, My God, I have something to show you. Our greatest treasure...

It's hidden in a cave under an artificial hill.

We pass it from pope to pope, on our deathbed or by a letter to be opened when one of us has died for the next.

In this way, we never fall into doubt.

Now that I know that you are among us, this heritage is yours... It is the Aegis."

And George was startled... "The Aegis???? The Aegis?? It has not been lost???."

Montaron nodded his head that he wasn't...

"I am a descendant of the crew..."

I nodded, "But wasn't that Bichnine?"

Montaron nodded, "She married Bishop first."

George: "Yes, that's right, I remember that... But almost all my memories have been erased by time."

Montaron: "Let me tell you our story, the one before the cataclysm, which has been passed on to me from generation to generation".

And he took scrolls of parchment and some blurred photos protected by crystal, finally a resin that crystallized over time.

The crystal protecting its contents from the wear and tear of time.

"We must go near the mountain where you hibernate. There are caves further on."

Rather than flying, we took a shortcut through the labyrinth.

Kraa, Tiamat, Karrine and Oriharukon were waiting for us there.

I was given the topo concerning Alban...

By the way, from the shadows I could see him with Marise who was teaching him the rudiments of flight.

Then I saw Georges, not happy at all...

Me: "A rival?? joked I but Georges answered me by a small whistle of sadness... seeing my little one like that, I immediately apologized.

I knew that she was on the opposite side from me, but I could not intervene in her love life. I didn't want to risk being away or losing him...

George: "Do you think she's in love with him?"

Me: "I don't, but later on I do... They are young like you. You should go near them, have fun... ah yes... you, we are on opposite sides...

Listen, Georges, I have a plan and I need the power from before...I will negotiate with Tiamat so that she can leave you alone. But for the moment, we are too weak... ten times too weak..."

Blanche: "You're crazy, Marc, she's a devourer too..."

Marc: "And your singularity? "

Blanche: "We are not all devourers... I was not one, even if I pretended to be... In my reality, only you are a devourer... but since you are legitimate with this dimension, you should have the upper hand...".

Marc PDV: "Even I can't figure it out"...

Georges let out a little squeak of sadness...

I think he loves the one who saved him... Marise...

During this time:

Alban: "Ahhh, I'm going to fall, I'm going to fall..."

Marise: "Open your wings and jump, enjoy the thrust"

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Alban lost his balance and jumped, his wings spread and pushing his engine all over the place and he started to fly but, unbalanced, he swung to the right and made a huge splash.

With his engine submerged, he ejected water from behind and whirled underwater.

It crashed into the mud and had difficulty getting out.

They climbed back up on their feet full of mud and covered with algae.

It looked like a mix between an angry toad and an oil spill bird.

Marise contorted herself on the floor laughing.

Alban: "It's not funny!"

Marise: "Come on, we have to start again immediately."

"But I'm soaking wet..."

Marise: "And when you want to fish in the sea, how will you do it?"

?????

Marise: "The best fish comes from the sea... their flesh is naturally salty... think of tuna... a tuna just for you..."

Alban: "But I eat Iberium..."

Marise : "Taratata... You have a converter.... You know how to eat like us.... stop making excuses for yourself..."

grumbling a little, Alban resumed his place on the rock.

He made his reactor go.

Marise: "Yes, that's it... learn to control your power... Do what I do and use the reactor to compensate for the loss of lift in your wings...".

Not being an idiot, Alban pushed just a little bit, and, with his wings, he managed to fly just above the water.

Marise: "Yes, that's it, straighten your neck a little... yes... you see, you're going up... Stay above the water and try to turn around in circles, not too fast..."

Alban was beginning to understand. For fear of the void, he stayed between 10 and 5 meters high above the lake and went around.

After 10 turns in one direction...

Marise : "In the other direction now."

He executed, the challenge not being too hard.

Alban saw that it was a great potential... For a moment, his sadness of not being human anymore was erased by the happiness of the discovery of aerial flight.

Marise: "Now, zig zag!"

"No... Alban, don't land on the water but try to brake by raising the wings and "fall" gently to land.

use your tail to swing backwards. it has to touch the ground first and you cushion it with your hind legs."

Alban finally succeeded and didn't fall nose down into the grass.

Marise applauds. See????

Come on, let's eat at the castle... to celebrate.

Then, surprised, Isolde applauds his brother.

"I'm proud of you, Alban.... but don't forget who we are and where we come from."

Flattened in front of her sister: "Never, Sister, never... Forgive me for being with Marise..."

Isolde turned to the dragoness: "I'm sorry... you... It is not your fault what happened...You are also a victim like Alban... I'm sorry I misjudged you..."

Then she broke down in tears...

Marise approached... "Why are you crying?"

Isolde: "I'm scared....but I don't want to become a dragon...even if it means that Alban will outlive me...but I know that with you... you'll be a good guide for him..."

Marise realized that Isolde spoke to her in draconian...

"Isolde... come a little closer? Do you understand everything they say in Draconian???"

Isolde: "Since yesterday..."

"Tania bit you???"

Isolde: "I don't know, I don't think so, but we made love a few times and... I don't know... it was too intense..."

Marise : "There's not a second to lose..."

Marise took Isolde on her back and flew to the Zerg base.

"Alban, continue to train and come find me as soon as you feel ready..."

After shooting like an arrow, Marise took Isolde to the infirmary.

Mentats made her lie down on an auscultation table and she was scanned and analyzed.

A few minutes later, the verdict fell: "Presence of unknown mutagen in the blood... low dose... proceed with the extraction...".

Before Isolde said yes, Marise asked to inspect and analyze the uterus...

The source of the pathogen was there... A fetus...!

the mentats wanted to explain but were interrupted by Marise...

Marise took Isolde by the hand and lifted her up, pulling her towards the exit.

"Isolde, let's go for a walk by the lake, we have to talk..."

On the way back, they met Alban who flew like a young bird and they turned back towards the lake.

Alban arrived running: "Are you all right? looking at Marise...".

Marise: "Alban, I would like to be alone with your sister...please, keep practicing going up and down. don't go too high...you have to learn to use your anti-crash powers...".

He understood immediately, leaving the 2 girls alone by the lake...

They walked slowly...

Isolde : "I'm going to transform, huh? That's it..., is it irreversible?"

They continued to walk slowly, the dragoraptor, their eyes frozen in the distance.

"No, it's still possible to stop everything..."

Isolde wanted to smile and jump on her friend's neck...

Marise pushed her away with her snout...

"It's possible but you have to make a sacrifice..."

"?????? A sacrifice???? I don't understand..."

Marise:" The mutagen that "prepares" you for the transformation doesn't come from Tania..."

Isolde:" But... I don't understand... who does it come from? Didn't Tania bite me??"

Marise:" Isolde:" Isolde... it's not Tania.... it's your child... You are pregnant!!!! You're having a baby!"

Isolde stopped, breathless from the shock...dazed, not knowing if she should be happy or horribly sad...

Marise fell silent, and let Isolde take the blame.

Alban, further on, his keen senses quickly realized that something was wrong.

This accentuated his curiosity and he made himself as discreet as possible, making as little noise as possible...

Isolde fell to his knees, his hands over her eyes and his "crying" nose.

"If I get an abortion... I'll still be human????"

Marise, disapproving of the act, agreed... For her it was an innocent being who would be deprived of life and, moreover, dragons being extremely rare, a birth was an event in itself ...

The opportunity to make peace and to put back together the pieces and the families...reunited again in front of a little being....

She looked at her belly...

Turning to Marise... "Do you think Tania really loves me???"

Marise: "Mommy has the art of always ruining everything...She has a real communication problem. She takes life as a constant battle game but I believe that in love she has everything to rebuild...

Yes, I think she really loves you but something in her is broken. Only love and if she becomes a mother too, then she can be repaired.

Isolde: "How and who broke Tania?".

"The war... That's all she has known all her life...she denied the love of her loved ones for fear of being sad when they died.... And she made a "bubble" for herself to avoid being attacked by her relatives...

When Georgie died, something broke inside her. She never got to grieve...

Then the war with the Zergs, the drugs...it drove her crazy. Then Tiamat, who doesn't help her with her infernal brutes, who instead of breaking mom, only excited her..."

Isolde settled down a little and sat down on a rock...

Marise next door.

Alban arrived and wanted to talk but his friend nodded "no!".

He went further... a girl thing he thought... but it was much more serious than it seemed.

Isolde: "Marise, if I keep my child, will I explode?"

Marise: "I don't know and Tania even less... Only those we're chasing may know but in my opinion, it will be like an egg and then it will hatch...".

Isolde: "And I'll transform then????"

Marise: "All I know is that the mutagen hasn't transformed you yet... The priority being the survival of the fetus. "

Isolde: "I know who could help me... it is the prophet Montaron... from the banned church of Gidhorah...".

Marise: "The king????"

"Yes..."

"The three-headed king???"

"He had 5 heads... but it was a heresy to devote a cult to an abomination... Altus had everything forbidden... just like his predecessors. But he has a great knowledge of dragons and their history...but I don't know if he's alive, in the dungeon or dead...It would take an official request to Vaillant 1er...to ask for a visit..."

Marise: "So, let's not waste time..." Then she shouted: "Alban, I know you're listening to us, your senses are heightened, but so am I! Let's hurry back home... Since you listened, there's no need to tell you the story."

And the two dragons with Isolde returned from the lake to the castle.

Isolde, in the unknown and in her new condition, hesitated to sacrifice the young fetus. Hes child.

The only thing she knew was that Georges was a human/dragon hybrid, that he had had a happy childhood with his human family and that he survived old age... His mother, being a wyrme with a semi-human appearance.

"Why did you have to run away? I could have asked George..."

For her, it was out of the question to ask the goddess of dragons, Tiamat the infernal... Nor to other Tiamats, even sweeter. Just her presence alone could kill any human, like that... without reason ... well ... if ... death by fear....

On the way, Alban spat on the ground, his eyes full of hatred. He followed his sister and Marise... He stared at her behind his back, murderous desires rising from the depths of his being as he watched a defenseless dragon waddle past.

He wailed with anger. His sister was also marked...by these monsters.

Marise turned around, her experience as a murderer feeling the urge to kill...but maybe Alban had feelings for her too?

"Are you all right, Alban? You have a strange look in your eyes..."

He was surprised at the sharpened senses of the dragoness. He couldn't have been an easy opponent."

"I want to be alone ... excuse me ... Marise ... but that something happens to me because of me, I can endure, but that my sister is touched ... you can't imagine my anger, my hatred..."

Marise stepped aside to leave them but Isolde held her back by her wing. "No, stay with me... Marise, with teary eyes."

Then Alban, against all odds, made a perfect take-off. He flew around the castle and landed on a huge terrace, that of the pontiff.

The prince pontiff went out then to congratulate Alban on his first flight.

They were just the two of them on the terrace.

Alban was crying too.

The sovereign was caught by his guards. But he made a sign that he was all right.

"Alban????"

"Monsters... they are monsters... we must kill them all!!!!"

"!!!!!"